Inhibition of oxidation activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO) by propylthiouracil (PTU) and anti-MPO antibodies from patients with PTU-induced vasculitis

Propylthiouracil (PTU) could induce antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis. This study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects on MPO oxidation activity by PTU and MPO-ANCA from patients with primary microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and PTU-induced vasculitis. IgG preparations were purified from MPO-ANCA-positive sera from seven patients with PTU-induced vasculitis and ten patients with primary MPA. The oxidation activity of MPO was measured in the presence of PTU and MPO-ANCA-positive IgG preparations from patients with PTU-induced vasculitis and primary MPA respectively. PTU could competitively inhibit the oxidation activity of MPO dose dependently. MPO-ANCA-positive IgG preparations from 6/7 patients with PTU-induced vasculitis and only 3/10 from patients with primary MPA could inhibit the MPO activity in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusions, the oxidation activity of MPO could be inhibited by PTU and PTU-induced MPO-ANCA in a dose-dependent manner, which might be involved in the pathogenesis PTU-induced vasculitis.